Ghost Ridge

[Brian_Schrayer]

Hi Everyone! Here is an image from a recent trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway in early October. I’m not really a fan of Halloween, but I felt like this was an appropriate post for today.

The low hanging fog added some interesting definition between the ridge-lines while localized fog from my shooting location veiled the entire scene and gave it a ghostly appearance.

This is a bit of a departure from my usual style as this tends to have a minimalist feel. Moments after this the localized fog receded a little and I have some shots that have some more contrast, but those images loose some of the mood of this photo.

Capture Info:
200 mm
f/8 @ 1/160 sec.
ISO 64

Processing Info:
Clone layer to remove some protruding pine branches in the extreme lower right hand corner. Added a layers adjustment to set the white point and add just a tiny smidge of contrast - applied at reduced opacity. Cropped from full frame to remove the sky.

As always all comments and critiques are welcome!

What technical feedback would you like if any?

All comments and critiques are welcome.

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Since this is a departure from my usual style, does this translate to an interesting photo or am I a little biased because of the experience of the moment? Does it need additional contrast to work or do you like the minimalist look to the image?!

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

If you would like your image to be eligible for a feature on the NPN Instagram (@NaturePhotoNet), add the tag ‘ig’ and leave your Instagram username below.

[Igor_Doncov]

This looks fine to me. Removing the sky was likely a good idea.

[Diane_Miller]

A lovely capture, but I’d love to see a version with more contrast, but maybe the kind of localized tonal contrast from something like Clarity in LR/ACR or Nik CEP’s Tonal Contrast. That could be done and keep the high key look.

[Terrance_Alexander]

A lovely capture - the ghostly feel of the landscape is both relaxing and mysterious. I do agree with Diane that a little more contrast might increase the interest level in the image.

[Brian_Schrayer]

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to comment. I have attached a revised version of this image with added contrast. I just added contrast from the original levels adjustment. I had already added just a little bit of clarity and dehaze in Lightroom in the original file (but very little).